Smooth like Butter, or just another attempted Grammy nomination?

BTS - the biggest boyband of our time, and arguably one of the biggest bands to ever walk the planet - released their new single Butter on May 21st. In fact, this song was released exactly 6 months after their last album Be with the title track Life goes on came out, and almost to the day 9 months previous to the release of their first fully English single, Dynamite. One of the main critiques of Dynamite has been that the song is too generic for BTS´ overall style and image, in addition to it possibly being released mainly due to the band´s expressed desire of receiving a Grammy nomination. Personally, I think that this single is somewhat generic, but the song in and of itself is not bad, the choreography definitely slaps, and the style and colours of the music video and the performances are just phenomenal!

Why did I explain Dynamite to such an extent? Well, some of the critique towards the newly released single Butter has mainly contained arguments like how the song might just have been another attempt at receiving another Grammy nomination, and furthermore increasing the international fanbase - due to the fact that the song is sung in English. Now, whether or not this is correct feels irrelevant to me personally, but I will just mention that I think it is all right if this is the case. Some of their arguably most generic and "boyband-like" songs (i.e. DNA, Boy With Luv) are the most popular ones, and if this incerases their international fanbase, it is a great business strategy. In addition, an increased fanbase means that more fans will get access to their numerous deep, meaningful songs, as a consequence of listening to their more generic songs. Isn´t that more of a win-win? Besides, their music video Mic Drop is in my opinion nowhere close to being generic or "boyband-like", and it is about to hit 1 Billion views in probably 1-3 months, along with Idol and Fake Love.

Now, is Butter too generic? Could it be the new Watermelon Sugar? Is it too inauthentic based on the fact that there is not a single Korean word in the song? Maybe, but this is highly subjective, just like music is in general. Personally, despite the bass of the song being somwehat similar to Another One Bites The Dust by Queen, I think this song absolutely slaps! The style of the music, the dance routine and the bpm of the song is quite similar to Dynamite. The words might not be as deep as most of their other songs - whether we´re talking hard-hitting "in your face" songs like Ddaeng, Cyphet pt.1-4, UGH!, Mic Drop or Agust D - or hopeful and uplifting songs like Paradise, Answer: Love Myself, Lost, Magic Shop, Spring Day or 2! 3!.

You can clearly tell that vocal-line has improved their mixed voices in this song, because the chorus is fairly high-pitched and powerful. In my biased opinion, Jung Kook (정국) and Jin (진) absolutely killed this style. Actually, I take that back - all seven of them killed the vocals and the choreography of this song. But I do have to mention that all though JK already shines because he is the center and this style suits his voice, Jin really got to shine in the second chorus. Honestly, Jin belting is just out of this world!

I was also happy to see the lines being evenly distributed among the members of the vocal-line, possibly due to the fact that rap-line barely had any lines (with the exception of RM). In spite of this, J-hope, who had the least "full" lines really shone in the dance break. To be honest, that was my favourite part of the whole video! Not to mention his beautiful aesthetics with blonde hair and a suit that makes him look like a handsome mafia-boss. RM´s pink hair also suits him so well, all though we all know he doesn´t really like it (throwback to Run era). His two rap parts slap hard as well!

Jimin´s unicorn hair was so cute and it really suited the concept, along with his killer dance moves in his signature style. I also have to mention again that his mixed voice has really improved! Kim Taehyung´s presence in this song can obviously not be ignored either, and I am sure many people will say that he owned this era. The style really suits him, and his dance moves and vocals were on point (particularly when he danced in center). Suga´s short but memorable rap spit fire as usual, and despite his should injury and previous surgery, his dance moves are on point! Now, I know I´ve mentioned Jin´s vocals, but I have to add that his dance moves in the elevator were great, especially the part where he proved himself to be mister Worldwide Handsome by doing the classic pulling-down-your-glasses gesture and then staring into the camera. I´m sure many Armies died a little! Another point I have to mentioned are the lines "smooth like butter" and the two references to being smooth like a criminal/robber (JK and Jin´s verses). This, just like the choreography, creates Michael Jackson vibes - the BTS members are like "smooth criminals", who will charm their way into the hearts of ARMY.

Jung Kook´s purple hair and fake eyebrow piercing also added to the somewhat "bad boy" concept here, all though the "bad boy" concept was nowhere near their early days. This way, it was almost like part of their youth collided with Dynamite to create Butter; a bop of a song that includes smooth and funky dance moves and a strong bass, with a hint of Michael Jackson mixed with Queen. It´s truly a song that makes you want to get up and dance!

In my completely biased opinion, I loved this song from start to finish. Now, will this get them another Grammy nomination? Possibly, all though I kind of just wish that they could someday win with a Korean song. It happened once in 1959 with the Italian song Volare, so it could possibly happen again. 

The bottom line here is that ARMY will love BTS regardless of whether or not they receive a Grammy someday, and this will only be a very small cherry on top of their already humongous success. 
A Grammy award has never in the history of man been a determining factor as to whether or not an artist is great, successful and loved by many - and it never will be!

Borahae / 보라해

Let´s keep breaking records: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMweEpGlu_U